Short Stories : Mal & Natara
by sierralim91
Summary: A hopefully ongoing collection of my Mal/Natara drabbles and short stories. Varied genres of writing.
1. Leaving

Some short drabbles on this couple I constantly seem to get inspiration for. Thought I'd give it a go and see how I do, considering I normally write long chapters/stories.

Please review. Thanks!

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><p><strong>Inspiration:<strong> "You don't see me that way"

**Title:** Leaving

**Notes:** Songfic, somewhat.

**Word count:** 581

**Disclaimer:** The song is not mine, and of course neither are the characters.

...

It was a lovely ball, mostly with people chatting and dancing their night away in regal style. They had dinner together beforehand only because her boyfriend could not pick her up as he was rushing from the airport to make it for the event honouring the work of people in the law enforcement; she and him were among the honourees.

Her boyfriend eventually arrived, and he stepped aside, ever the gentleman he was.

"Thank you, Mal," she patted his arm. "I'll see you later, okay?"

He just nodded stiffly, and walked away.

She looked at his retreating figure, disappearing amidst the crowd of tuxes and ballgowns.

Later, he stood at the edge of the party, just holding a glass of champagne and hoping to get out as soon as he could. The event would be ending soon – he would be shouted at if he didn't stay until the closing ceremony.

The last portion of the event was dancing.

She danced with her date; he remained where he was, never wanting to step out onto the floor unless it was with her.

It was then that the acoustic band begun playing the song of his life, and he watched as she glided beautifully across the floor, in the arms of another man.

Then she came up to him suddenly, in the middle of his deep thought processes about her.

"Hey Mal…" she waved up at his face. "Mal! Are you okay?"

He snapped back to reality and looked down at her, his face attempting to hide the pain. He forced a weak smile, not wanting to spoil her night with his moodiness any further.

"I'm fine, Natara. Don't worry about me."

"It's clear this is not where you want to be, Mal. I know how you feel. I'd like to get out of here too, honestly…"

**I'd like to tell you and I'd like to say how I feel right now  
>I'd like to follow you down the hall and see where it goes from there <strong>

_No, that's not what I'd like to do. You have no idea._

"…but stop being moping, you know it won't help anything. I just don't want to see you go down that path again, not with all the people you've lost in your life…"

**Oh but you, you don't care**

_I know you care, but not in that way._

"…Anyway I've got to go, Mal. Oscar's waiting for me over there…"

**You don't see me that way  
>You don't see the way I look at you when you are not looking at me<strong>

He recalled all the countless moments he spent with her, gazing at her while she slept, while she smiled and mused in her own thoughts; even in that moment, as he stood there, she glanced away at her boyfriend waiting at the opposite end of the room, and he looked at her face, so beautiful, so amazing, she was – and he felt as though he could stand no longer.

She turned back to face him and gave him the most genuine smile he had seen from her.

"Take care, okay?"

The emcee was calling for everyone's attention. He was about to call for the closing ceremony to begin. She squeezed his hand and walked away, her curled brown locks and crimson dress flowing along with her every move.

**I wish that I could tell you every single thought I ever had about you  
>And maybe you don't see me that way.<strong>

He left.


	2. After The Storm

_A/N: I'm beginning to suspect I have a thing for rewriting endings. The original was satisfactory (it got me squealing a little) but it wasn't enough, so this happened. _

_R&R. Thanks and enjoy._

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><p><strong>Inspiration:<strong> Chapter Eight: And On The Surface Die

**Title:** After The Storm

**Notes:** Alternate ending. Don't read if you haven't played the latest episode.

**Word count:** 215

"Natara!"

"Mal."

She smiled earnestly – she had never felt so happy to see her partner than ever before.

He paused for a beat upon facing her, but only to gaze at her expression of relief. Then, almost immediately, he hugged her as tight as he could. Really, he didn't care about anything else anymore. Ken was avenged somehow, and boy, of course he missed his best friend, but nothing else would matter if she was gone. And here she was, safe, in his arms.

She pressed her face against his chest and relished in feeling the strength of his arms around her.

"I'm glad I have you in my life, Mal."

His smile grew large.

"Me too, Nat. Me too."

Despite all the pain and all the exhaustion, the rush of emotions led Mal to doing the one thing he didn't know he wanted to do until the moment when he drew back, still holding her, and she looked up at him.

He leant down ever so gently and connected his lips to hers.

She felt surprised at this, but her eyes closed right on cue and she relaxed in his arms, returning the kiss.

It was the sweetest kiss either of them ever knew, at the time.

It was also the first of many.


	3. Now Or Never

**Inspiration:** "Wedding"

**Title:** Now Or Never

**Notes:** Imagine this conversation did NOT take place in the midst of a high stakes life-or-death poker game…. And much later, instead. And I know this isn't really a "short" story. =.=

**Word count:** 1509

...

"Yeah, I am stupid. But not half as stupid as you... You're blowing it, you know that?"

"With you? Right now?"

Blaise tried as hard as possible not to slap Mal across the face. How dumb could he be? How naïve? There was no one in the world she cared for more than him, but seriously, if she couldn't be happy with him, he'd better not act like a silly kid waiting for his long lost love anymore. She wanted him to fight, especially now that he'd confirmed for her what she knew all this time.

"Not with me. With the woman you love… I may have been rejected, but at least I said something… You're too much of a coward to even tell her how you feel."

"It's complicated…"

Mal stuttered. He knew this was an argument he couldn't win. No matter how many excuses he made, or how many reasons he laid out, the truth was punched raw in his face – that he was too afraid to even reveal how much he loved his current partner. He had been waiting for so long, longer than necessary. But how, why, when? He was hopeless. He didn't want to blow it, but he was, and the woman he just rejected, also his close friend and ex-partner, had to be the one to point it out to him point blank.

"Is it?"

Blaise cut at him, looking almost mad and frustrated. She shoved her phone into Mal's face. The screen showed a picture message from Kai, who snapped one picture of Natara in her wedding dress, shoving at Kai, looking as though she was trying to shoo him out of her dressing room. There was a second picture of Oscar waiting outside with guests. Apparently Kai was trying to alert Mal of the upcoming catastrophe as well.

Mal's jaw went taut, and his eyes hardened, going cold. He then looked up at Blaise after a few moments, pressing his eyebrows together in an attempt at stopping the shameful tears that were finding their way out of his eyelids.

"Even Kai knows how you feel. Even _Kai Kalaba _can see it. Even _he _wants you to do something, because he knows how she feels for you and how you feel for her. Heck, _everyone _can see it but you. And you're just standing here like an idiot while she goes and gets married."

"I…" he began, losing his voice.

Blaise found the courage and willpower to march up to Mal, place a hand on his shoulder, and shake him a bit.

"Tell her," she urged. "The wedding isn't over yet. Go stop it."

In three short sentences, she summed up the hope he had. That was enough for him. He grabbed his jacket then gave Blaise a big hug.

"I owe you. I know I always say that, but thank you. You can see yourself out, yeah?"

Blaise nodded curtly. "Go get her."

Mal flew into his car and drove like a madman to the small local church west of the city. He wove through the cars, driving faster than he had done chasing a criminal. This, THIS was life and death to him and he knew it was now or never. If he was too late, he'd kill himself.

He parked his car right in front of the church, behind a horse carriage that was obviously Natara's choice of transportation for her big day. He ran up the steps to the large wooden arched door and pushed them open with all his might, not caring what might happen next, not realising that the priest was booming out the words for him to enter right at the perfect time…

"…let him speak now, or forever hold his peace."

What he saw before him struck him and he stopped in his steps.

Natara and Oscar were up at the pew, and the guests – at least a hundred or so of them – were staring at him. _All _of them were staring at him, eyes wide, confused at who this crazy man was, breaking into the church in the midst of a _wedding_ that he was objecting to.

But he caught the eyes of the one person he was there for – her. She looked at him mouth slightly agape, chestnut eyes twinkling with something he saw as hope. And when he saw that, he needed no more assurance; he had to do it.

"I object to this wedding," he said, voice loud and clear. His eyes quickly scanned the crowd and he saw Natara's parents, whom he had met before, and Neha, who was dressed in lavender, obviously the bridesmaid. They were looking at him in surprise, though Raj Mansingh looked slightly angry, eyes narrowed at this show of behaviour.

"Special Agent Natara Williams," he continued, now looking right at the woman he loved. "I hope it's not too late, but you must know that I love you. I_ love __**you. **__I __**love**__ you. __**I love you**_."

"Always have and always will," he blankly stated. "I am wholly and deeply in love with you and I may have been too much of a coward to say anything before this, but there's no one I want by my side more than you."

"Natara, whatever you do, I will always be here for you."

Mal winked at her as a finish to his public confession of his feelings for his partner, and in that moment, Natara, never breaking eye-contact with him, held up the lace and tulle of her beautiful princess-bride-like wedding gown, stepped down from the pew area and ran into the arms of her handsome detective.

He hugged her tight, her face just grazing his shoulder, his arms around her back and her hands tightly clasped behind him. After a few moments, they pulled apart, and realising that everyone still had their eyes on their outrageous display, Natara just looked up at Mal, smiled earnestly and squeezed his hand. She then walked back up to the front, and meeting Oscar's angry and upset gaze, she could only say, "I'm sorry."

Oscar knew it was coming. He knew that Fallon was the only reason why Natara hesitated to say yes at first, and when she did he wondered what happened between them that drove them apart. Part of him wanted to believe she really wanted it as much as he did. But deep down he knew that it was a matter of time. He was just disappointed in himself for not pulling out earlier when he suspected she didn't have mutual feelings.

Natara pulled out the ring and placed it in Oscar's palm, closed it with her hands and hung her head low. "I'm really sorry."

He stepped forward and pushed her chin up to look her in the face. "Goodbye, Natara."

He was angry, but he didn't lose his cool. Oscar Santos simply went to the members of his family, marched out of the church and left Mal with a hard glare, refusing to exchange words.

The crowd began to stir then, and the two-three hundred guests started asking if there was still a wedding happening, or what was going on. Natara's family stood together, confused as well, and partially shamed at Natara's rebellious act.

Everyone looked around for the bride and her suitor, but they were nowhere to be seen.

"Are you sure about leaving the horse carriage there like that? It's part of your dream wedding. We could've taken that instead…"

Natara placed a hand on Mal's cheek. "Yes, I'm sure. The horse carriage isn't crucial. The biggest and most important part of my dream wedding is that you, Detective Mal Fallon, stand right there beside me."

Driving along the San Francisco highway towards the coast, Mal smiled happily at Natara before pulling up at the side of the highway on the Golden Gate Bridge.

"Mal, what are you–"

Before Natara could say anything more, he was out of the car, and he opened her door for her as he held her hand and she stepped out in her magical white dress. Her veil had fallen off along the way and her hair was down, reaching slightly below her shoulders, and a bit wavy from the bun it was tied up in. To Mal, she was the most beautiful woman in the whole world.

"I wanted to proclaim my love for you in a place with a magnificent view like this, but I guess I can still kiss you with this background."

She grinned. "Mal…"

"You're so beautiful, you know that?" his voice husky, the vehicles driving fast-paced behind them.

Natara looked deep into the sapphire eyes of her one true love. "I love you, Mal."

And just like that, as he leaned down and she angled her head upwards, their lips met in a kiss that was more enchanting and epic than any of them can ever begin to describe. They stayed there like that for a very long time. Afterward? Well, we'll let Mal tell that story another day.

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><p><em>AN: Hehe. Thought I'd let you guys have some insight into my fantasies of these two. Anyway, please review. :) Thank you for reading!_


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